


I Think I Love You

by amberleigh90



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-11 20:58:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberleigh90/pseuds/amberleigh90
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>War AU. Liam's not sure how it is that there's a guy in his unit who's Irish, but there's 2 things he's certain of. 1. Niall Horan is not a natural blonde no matter what his hair looked like in boot camp. And 2.  He's falling in love.<br/>horanhowalks.tumblr.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Think I Love You

Liam’s not quite sure how it works out that there’s a guy in his unit that’s Irish, but he thinks he vaguely remembers hearing something about the guy’s dad being stationed at a military base in Ireland so this kid has dual citizenship or some shit. But then Liam can’t quite figure out why this guy has that damned Irish accent…it’s just odd.

Or maybe Liam is over thinking everything again. Maybe there’s nothing strange about it and he’s just being weird. 

But there are two things Liam knows for sure. 1. Niall Horan is not a natural blonde, despite how he looked at the beginning of boot camp. And 2. He’s become completely enamored with him. He’s quite certain it’s the accent.

Nothing really matters anyway because they’re in Afghanistan and it’s a constant battle and he guesses that’s probably why they call it war. He’s positive he’s going to come back from a raid and Niall won’t be there. That’s the kicker of it all; through boot camp and most of AIT they were ‘battle buddies’. But then their unit got deployed and they we’re actually apart more than they were together. And if Liam was honest with himself, he really hated that. Not knowing if he would come back and Niall’s dog tags would be hanging heavily from the nail hammered into the side of his bunk.

It wasn’t a secret to anyone that Liam was gay. The army had long since done away with the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” rule and it wasn’t a secret that he and Niall had engaged in many late night rendezvous’ when either of them were on night watch. 

So Liam figured the second he came back and Niall wasn’t there but his dog tags were…well, he’d probably go off the deep end. 

He’d seen it before. He’d had a buddy who got a letter from his wife and she basically told him that she wanted a divorce and that their five month old baby wasn’t his anyway and apparently that was the only thing keeping him alive because the next raid they’d gone on, he’d stepped right on a land mine and had turned into an explosion of pink bits and Liam had actually been a victim of that. The right side of his face had been burnt and scarred terribly and some shrapnel had made its way into his jacket. 

So stuff like that happened a lot apparently, and Liam really didn’t want it to happen to him. But in the back of his mind he always wondered if Niall felt like that too. If he’d die if something happened to Liam. He didn’t really want Niall to feel like that, cause it’s a lot to handle; someone else’s life being connected to your own in a way that if you didn’t live, they wouldn’t either, but he’d always wondered what it would be like to be loved that deeply.

And so maybe he and Niall were a bit more friendly that he lets on because honestly, it’s the Army. Plain and simple. The guys in his unit tease him about everything anyway, so they don’t really need any more ammunition. But Liam thinks maybe he can see himself spending the rest of his life with Niall once they get out of the shit hole they call home at the moment.

But it’s three in the morning and Liam can’t sleep because one of the sections has just gotten back from a raid and someone is screaming like they’re dying and Liam can’t help but think it sounds a lot like Niall’s screams.

So Liam makes his way, slowly, out of his bunk and pulls his boots on as slow as he can because if it is Niall, he’d like to prolong the agony he’ll be putting his heart in. But he really can’t slow himself down as he hears cursing that sounds like it’s in a language that isn’t English and it’s broken up by sobs that sound terribly like Niall’s.

And as he gets closer to the medical tent they’ve set up at camp he’s almost positive it’s Niall in there because he hears groaning that sounds oddly like his name and then he knows it’s Niall because someone yells for someone else to ‘Go find Payne because I can’t get him to calm down dammit’ and he literally runs into this kid they’ve all nicknamed ‘baby tarzan’ because of boot camp and Harry looks like he’s more relieved than ever.

“Jesus Christ Liam. Get in here.” And Liam thinks that Harry’s nearly pulled his shoulder out of its socket with how hard he jerks on his arm, but he really can’t be bothered to care because it is Niall and he really needs to get in there.

And so maybe Liam’s scared more now than he’s ever been in his entire life because Niall’s blood is just pooling on the table and he can see two sets of fast hands working, trying to save his life. The medics look just as relieved as Harry did, if not more so, when Liam sprints over to where Niall is laying.

“Payne, calm him down. I’ve gotta get these bullets out.” Malik barks orders at him and Liam just nods, taking a chance and glancing at Niall’s chest. He regrets it almost immediately and resists the urge to vomit because okay, he’s clearly in love with his guy and Niall’s torso has scattered bullet holes in it. 

And all the guys in their unit know they’ve been low on emergency pain meds for a while and so Niall’s not getting much…not enough to knock him out anyway…so Liam grabs onto his hand and holds tight, just like Niall did when they’d had to dig the shrapnel out of Liam’s chest.

Now Liam knows he’s never been more scared in his life because Zayn and Louis are pulling out the bullets and packing the wounds as fast as they can, but Niall is seriously losing a lot of blood and Liam’s not sure if he’s gonna survive or not. And Niall’s grip on his hand is loosening, but his eyes are still open and Liam can still see the slow rise and fall of his marred chest, so he knows Niall is still alive.

“Li.” His name is almost gone unheard. There’s a lot of bustle around the tent and Niall’s voice isn’t all that loud right now anyway, but Liam just barely hears it.

“Yeah, Nialler. I’m here. Not going anywhere.” He’s certain Niall can hear the tears in his voice that haven’t quite reached his eyes yet, but the former blonde doesn’t say anything about it.

“Promise me something, yeah?”

“Anything.” His grip gets tighter on Niall’s hand as his eyes start to slip close.

“When you get out of here, go see my parents?” Liam watches in horror as Niall’s electric blue eyes droop and finally close.

“Shit.” He faintly hears Louis because his heart is beating in his ears and he’s so afraid that he’s losing Niall.

“Get him out, Harry.” Liam goes to protest, but before he can, Harry’s long arms are engulfing him and they’re soothing enough and the tears are now freely flowing from his eyes so he lets Harry guide him out because frankly, he can’t see and his promise to Niall is the last thing he thinks of before he blacks out.

\---

Liam stands at the door, his dress greens hugging his body and Niall’s dog tags curled tightly in his fist. He barely gets his hand up to knock on the door and Maura is pulling it open and dragging him inside, enveloping him in her motherly embrace. 

She sobs as Liam replays the night for her, something she hasn’t heard before. He wipes at his eyes as he remembers how wrecked Niall’s voice sounded and before he knows it, Greg, Niall’s brother, is bursting through the kitchen door and hugging him tightly. Liam’s a little confused at first, but he relaxes into the hug when he realizes that the Horan’s just must be a hugging type of family. 

“Thank you.” He hears it whispered in his ear and he looks up. Greg has tears in his eyes and his fists are clenched tightly at his side. “You saved my baby brother and I can’t ever repay you for that.”

“He saved me first.” Liam doesn’t realize he’s saying it until it’s too late and Maura lets out something Liam could only describe as a happy sob of sorts. And what he’s saying is entirely true…Niall saved him first. Niall is the reason Liam kept fighting and the only time Liam thought maybe he’d go step on a mine was when Niall was really touch and go.

But he doesn’t have time to dwell on it much because at that moment, Niall decides he’s awake enough to go downstairs and apparently Niall’s not too self conscious of his battle wounds because he’s entering the kitchen without a shirt on and Liam’s sure that Niall’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen even with the faint scars that litter his chest.

“You kept your promise.” Liam thinks that Niall’s eyes can’t possibly get any wider, or bluer for that matter, and he’s almost surprised as Niall’s body seems to find his and the blonde’s arms wrap around his neck and suddenly Liam can’t remember how to breathe properly.

“Of course I did.” Liam’s words seem rushed to him and so he buried his head into Niall’s shoulder as his arms wrap tightly around the younger’s waist and he really didn’t have any desire to untangle himself anytime soon. 

He vaguely hears Maura and Greg leave the kitchen before Niall is pulling back and gently brushing his lips against Liam’s and Liam’s pretty sure his head is going to explode because he hasn’t been able to kiss Niall in so long and he really, really missed it.

“I think I love you, Li.” He’s not really sure he’s heard right, but he responds none the less.

“I know I love you, Ni.”


End file.
